Portion Cotrol When Dieting

Posted on December 4th, 2009 / Filed under Diets , For the Body: , Wellness

Portion control is an integral part of dieting and maintaining a healthy weight. Being aware of correct portion sizes for different foods that your body needs and also being able to eyeball that amount can really make or break your diet.

This is especially important when dining out. Almost every restaurant overloads their plates with 2-4 times the recommended portions. Because their is so much confusion on portion sizes look like we often underestimate how much we eat and overestimate what we really need.

It is a complicated and confusing task to memorize many cups or ounces are in a serving for dozens of different foods. It’s much easier to equate those portions with familiar items. So, to help identify what correct portion sizes are we have outlined proper serving sizes and related those portions to everyday items.

  • 1 serving of meat (6oz) is about the size of a deck of cards
  • A single serving of pasta, rice or potatoes (1/2 cup) is roughly the size of a golf ball or a small scoop of ice cream.
  • 1 serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of a tennis ball or a fist.
  • 1 serving of cheese is just the size of 2 dominoes or 4 dice.

It may be helpful to practice with identifying portion sizes by measuring them out at home and putting them on a plate to see what it looks like.

This will help you at restaurants to avoid overeating. At first it may look like too little food if it’s less than what you’re used to serving yourself, but after eating you will see that your hunger is satisfied without feeling overly stuffed.